Don't You Wanna Stay
by RobertDowneyJrLove
Summary: After a fight, Tony's unorthodox apology convinces Pepper to stay!


The fight was stupid.

They both knew that. It had been a petty argument about something he had forgotten to do that was his responsibility as CEO of his company. The petty argument had escalated and he was pretty sure that their relationship had reached it's breaking point. The screaming match that had immediately followed was one of childish name-calling and delivering blows to their egos. She had called him something akin to the rear end of a donkey and that's when it had ended. Pepper was left in tears and Tony was left unable to process what had just happened. Without another word, Pepper stormed out, her high heels clicking on the floor of the workshop.

Needless to say he was sleeping on the couch instead of in his ridiculously over-sized and comfortable bed.

Actually correction, he was sitting on the couch in a pair of sweatpants with mussed up hair, tired eyes and a blanket draped over one shoulder. His glassy gaze was centered on the photo of him and Pepper that sat on the coffee table. Little did he know, Pepper was sitting up in bed in a pair of shorts and one of his old t-shirts, her teary gaze focused on the picture of him she kept as the background on her phone.

With a fierce determination and a growl that may or may not have been a decidedly politically incorrect expletive, he tossed the blanket off of his shoulder and stormed up the stairs to his master bedroom. The bedroom door was open. It was Pepper's way of letting him know that things were not completely over.

"You know," Tony rasped, knocking on the door-frame. "I think there's room for two in that bed. Plus you look a little lonely."

Pepper looked up from her cell phone and met his soft brown eyes. "Tony-"

"Pep," Tony rasped, walking over to the bed and collapsing on the edge. "I'm sorry."

"Tony I can't do this right now." Pepper whispered softly as she got out of bed and started for the door. "Maybe tomorrow but not tonight."

"Pepper-" Tony jumped up from the bed and chased after her, grabbing her arm to stop her. "Pepper, wait!"

"What, Tony?" Pepper sighed tiredly as she turned to face him.

"I really hate letting go of moments like this. Touching you. Feels different." Tony started, his voice raspy and coarse with emotion that he rarely shows because it just isn't in Tony Stark to show emotion unless it's with Pepper. "It feels like I've been completed. Just by touching you."

"Where are you going with this Tony? I'd really like to go home." Pepper sighed, trying desperately to resist him as he pulled her closer to his body.

"I hate letting go of you, Pepper." Tony whispered as he let go of her arm and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling into him before she could protest. "I refuse to lose the love of my life because of some petty argument that got a little too out of hand."

"A little too-" Pepper was unable to finish as he nuzzled his nose into her hair and his hot breath brushed the outer shell of her ear. If there was one thing, the man was good at, it was rendering her helpless and speechless which was quite a feat considering her stubbornness.

"Just a little, Pepper." Tony whispered, bringing one of his hands up to the back of her neck. "But I really don't see the need to let that end our relationship. We've called each other worse before. Still not seeing the need to let that end our relationship."

"Tony please?" Pepper pleaded with him, "I really don't want to hash this out tonight."

"I need to apologize, Pepper." Tony whispered, pulling away to look at her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pick a fight with you. We've both been on edge lately and I think that petty argument was just a way to take the edge off but we took it out on each other. I don't like fighting with you, Pepper."

"I don't like fighting with you either Tony but what can we do?" Pepper asked him softly.

"We can forget about it. Say it never happened." Tony whispered, bringing his hand up to brush her cheek with his thumb. "And you can stay here tonight."

"It's not that simple Tony." Pepper shook her head, trying to free herself from his arms before his touch made her give in.

"Don't you want to stay? Just for a little while? I want to hold you, Pepper. I want to keep you in my arms as tight as is comfortable and just sleep. Don't you want to fall asleep with me tonight, Pepper?" Tony pleaded with her, already knowing that she was on the verge of giving into him. "Don't you want to stay here with me? We can make forever feel the way we'll feel if you just stay with me tonight."

Without a word, Pepper collapsed in his arms as her defenses shattered and sobs wracked her body as she mumbled apology after apology. He shushed her as he gathered her up in his arms and carried her to the bed. He settled her under the covers before crawling in beside her and gathering her in his arms as she turned and buried her face in his chest. He suppressed the sigh of relief as he whispered sweet nothings in her ear to settle her.

The fight wasn't completely forgotten and with tomorrow would come more apologies and a long talk to work out their problems so that nothing like this happened and their relationship was left irreparable even with Tony's powers of persuasion. He knew they had some talking to do tomorrow but he wasn't worried about what would happen, come morning all he was worried about was tonight.

Because tonight, she stayed.

_"Don't you want to stay here a little while? Don't you want to hold each other tight? Don't you want to fall asleep with me tonight? Don't you wanna stay here a little while? We can make forever feel this way."- Don't You Want to Stay By Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson _

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><p><strong>So I've been listening to this song and something about it seem to fit Tony and Pepper so I spent a little over an hour writing it and here it is. I figured Tony might not be one for blatant apologies so I had to figure an unorthodox way for him to do it. His ego doesn't allow for blatant apologies but then again, he's also not going to let an ego-fueled fight ruin his relationship with his best friend. Anyway, leave me some love :) <strong>

**Love you Darlings, **

**RobertDowneyJrLove**


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